


Warmth

by hearts_blood



Category: Forever Knight
Genre: Cuddling and Snuggling, Gen, Hugs, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-23
Updated: 2012-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-31 15:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearts_blood/pseuds/hearts_blood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick lets Urs sleep in his loft sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brightknightie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightknightie/gifts).



> Brightknightie asked for "Forever Knight, Nick/Urs, the twelve days of Christmas 1995/1996." She was also kind enough to thoroughly beta her own story! ♥ Twice! ♥♥

He let Urs sleep in his loft sometimes, when she got tired of the Raven. "It's a stifling place," she said simply, the first time she asked to spend the day. "No air. And eyes everywhere."

Nick could understand that. "Why not go to Vachon? He's got plenty of room."

She hesitated briefly. "Javier is... I don't want to impose on him."

"It's the least he can do."

"You know how he is, Nick."

Yes, Nick knew. And he knew how Lacroix was, and how the Raven was not, not since Janette had left. So he let Urs stay. She was a pleasant house-guest, quiet and unobtrusive. Sometimes they talked, about things they had done and people they had known. Sometimes they watched a movie. More often, they just sat and watched the fire. Urs always pressed close to him when they did that, leaned up beside him with her head on his shoulder. Nick didn't mind; vampires were tactile, and it had been too long since he'd been able to just sit with his arm around someone and not have to worry about losing control. It was nice. He could admit that much to himself, and the admission helped him not think about how much he missed that kind of contact. When it was time to sleep, he always offered to vacate the bedroom for her, but she always took the couch instead. She said she liked to fall asleep with the firelight on her face, and pretend it was the sun. 

It was such a simple thing for Urs to find so much joy in. Nick wished he still could.

She was usually gone before he woke up, leaving just after the sun sank below the city skyline, always leaving the blanket neatly folded over the back of the couch and the pillow smoothed and freshly plumped. And though he gave her his access code ("Just in case," he'd insisted.), she was careful, he noticed, never to enter his home without permission.

They were small things, but Nick appreciated the consideration. It was rare among his ki--among vampires, he corrected himself, to show so much concern for another's private space. 

"Why me?" he asked her once, while they were sitting together and contemplating the flames.

She looked up at him with remarkable eyes and a smile like a weary secret. "Something different, for a change." 

One season felt very much like another. The rapid drop in temperature as autumn changed quickly to winter made little impression on them; only the hours of day versus night were worth noticing. And Nick noticed, as the nights lengthened and Urs' over-day stays became shorter but more frequent, that he had grown to enjoy her company.

"Can I stay here on Christmas Eve?" she asked, unexpectedly. "I know I don't usually ask to stay during the night, but--"

"Yes," said Nick at once, without waiting for her explanation. Then he remembered that he always worked the Christmas Eve shift, and felt strangely depressed. "Will you... Do you want to spend the day here, too?"

"If you don't mind." She smiled, and there was... something, in her blue-green eyes and the tilt of her head. Not seductive, not innocent, but a warm combination of the two.

Nick didn't know what it was, exactly, but he liked seeing it there. 

Urs was awake when he came downstairs on Christmas Eve, after his shower. Sitting on the black leather couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, she watched the fire with a far-off, thoughtful expression. "Did you... want to do anything special?" he asked, coming to stand behind her. "After I get off my shift in the morning?"

Urs shrugged placidly. The light from the flames did lovely things to her soft hair. "This is enough," she said quietly. There was a smile in her voice he didn't need to see to understand. 

Bending down, Nick pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, breathing in her comforting, familiar scent. Urs leaned her head back, letting out a silent sigh of contentment, pressing his thin pajama top against his still-damp chest.


End file.
